T4T Lab / Arch Design V Spring 2016
Director: Adam Fure
Studio Liaison: Gabriel Esquivel
Team: Adam Wells, Christian Stiles, Luis Munoz, Kendall Slaughter
Our project evolves from a series of manipulations of physical and
digital mediums, while centering around the idea of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;ruinâ&#x20AC;? and
through what processes can a ruin exist in digital space. The objects
assert two main points, the denial of the aesthetic project and the
emphasis on process as creator rather than a means to an end.
The initial digital models went through a process of 3D printing,
physical sculpting, 3D scanning, and finally CNC milling. Each step
represents the creation of new objects through a restructuring of data,
material, and formal qualities. These object can then be viewed as a
collective, as opposed to preliminary trials. Although complexity is
achieved in our design, we used simple operations and the translation
between mediums rather than typical digital sculpting or scripting
methods. Our procedural post digital approach looks for a new
direction in the design of complex objects.

3D prints

CNC model process

Final CNC Model

We also borrow ideas from Object Oriented
Onticology. We define pivotal moments in the
process as translation from the digital world
to the physical world, and vice versa. The
typical notion of a linear process is ruined,
leading to a collective of objects, each able to
stand as its own autonomous entity.
The final drawings follows this logic, using a
process weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve termed the decollective. A new
object formed from the collective is created
through a digital tear. The image to the left is
composed of the initial polygon data structure
of the digital models, images of 3D prints and
CNC models, as well as the data structure
of photogrammed models and the final
render. The final images are all variations of
the collective becoming objects themselves.
They assert no sense of origin, context, or
orientation.

Drawing
Without
Paper
Drawing without
Paper

T4T
Lab / Arch The
Design
Spring
2014
Poro-Ecologics:
RawI and
Synthetic
Director:
Bruno Juricic
T4T
Lab 2014
Studio
Liaison:
Gabriel Esquivel
Director: Bruno Juricic
Team:
Drew
Busmire,
Studio Liaison: Gabriel Adam
EsquivelWells, Justin Zumel, Kathleen Sobzak
Team: Drew Busmire, Adam Wells, Justin Zumel, Kathleen Sobzak
Drawing without Paper began with the desire to remove anthopocentrism in
architecture
means ofPaper
the Eisenmanian
challenge
of scale. to
Theremove
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began with
the desire
project
led
to
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distinction
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Proto-Synthetic
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From
this, we then
anthopocentrism in architecture by means of the Eisenmanian
frame
the discussion
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two categories
terms
of Eisenmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
challenge
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led toargument
the
of
Arrows,
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discusses
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distinction of the Proto-Synthetic and Synthetic. From this,
self-similarity.
a result
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then frameAsthe
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of desire.which
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discusses recursivity, discontinuity and self-similarity.
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As project
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When
at the image on the following page, it is not one singular image, but
objectweoflook
desire.
rather a combination of many digitally manipulated images layered and collaged. We
perceive
this as relies
one image
its origin of
cannot
be traced.
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onand
a variety
different
mediums including,

text, image, drawing and video that are dependent on each other
in order to form the true object of desire. When we look at the
image on the following page, it is not one singular image, but
rather a combination of many digitally manipulated images
layered and collaged. We perceive this as one image and its
origin cannot be traced.

The studio is framed in these terms “raw” and
“synthetic”. Through this project we view the raw
as a direction rather than a destination. When
looking at the 3D prints (pictured below) we
instead view them as 3D drawings, since they are
a collection of 2D lines that have been layered
on top of one another. These 3D drawings move
towards the raw but never reach a pure raw state,
ending at what we call proto-synthetic.
The CNC model (pictured left) works in a different
manner. The origin of the model is a single block
of foam, and through a series of steps that
corrode this object, the creation becomes a
proto-synthetic representation of its former state.
From this we understand that the proto-synthetic
was self-manifested and omnipresent from the
synthetic.

The project attempts to step away from the
traditional notion of rendering and view rendering
engines instead as drawing machines. With this,
we argue that the rendering can be controlled to
such a degree that we can surpass authorship, in
the typical Eisenman sense, and create a drawing.
When viewing the section of the object
(pictured left) the poche is implemented as a
mediator forming neither ground nor figure. It is
intentionally left as black and white to blend the
proto-synthetic drawing with the synthetic
rendering. The exhibition layout (pictured left)
is grafted and arranged to create a collage of
renders that disrupts the reality of the object.
The image produced is no longer a rendering,
and moves closer to the realm of a painting or
a drawing.

The project is a design proposal for a welcome center and student dormitories for
Long Acres Ranch located in Richmond, Texas. Long Acres Ranch is currently
going through a large scale transformation and rebranding from a traditional cattle
ranch to an ecotourism destination for Houstonians searching for an escape
from the city.
The proposal lays out a main building that is treated as a transitional
space between the city and nature. The driver of the project became the
creation of a single surface roof that we view as a secondary landscape
floating above the environment. The roof becomes a wild organism
that is bound by its spatial requirements, but a boundless ecology
left to grow untamed. This undulating environment begins to inform
the series of free standing walls used to delineate programmatic
space within the building. The walls then dictate the placement of
the slanting columnsthat move around the figural wall system.
This hierarchical scheme creates gestural pathways guiding
visitors through the space, an idea borrowed from the history of
the site where the cattle began to delineate pathways in the land
through deterioration.

Cattle pathways on site

Cattle postures

The visitorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s center is layed out with a free plan
that points towards a central meeting location and
radiates out into the site. The cleint asked that we
look at the building as a way of transitioning patrons
from the city into the immense landscape. Through
our plan, views and movement of visitors are always
flowing outward into the natural environemnt, never
containing them within a space that disconnects the
inside from the outside.
Pathways between the dormitories and the building
are undefined, leaving visitorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to freely walk through
the landscape for exploration. Through time it is
expected that the ground and grass will begin
to slightly deteriorate leaving common pathways
marked by the movement of the visitors, mimicking
the cattle that once roamed the pasture before.

The student dormitories look at the cow as a three-dimensional
object, attempting to recognize inherent qualities in the cow itself
that can be applied to architecture such as structure, organization
of space, skin condition, ground condition, and posturing. Through
the shift and abstraction from organism to architecture, the building
becomes an icon that architecturalizes specific qualities such as
fur, organs and vertebrae.
The buildings are then placed with specific clustering and
directionality in reference to a congregation of cows in a
landscape. The topography is shifted around these groupings
informing circulation. The visitors become themselves residences
of the pasture seeking points of congregation.

The main buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s roof structure is composed of
a waffle grid of bending glulam beams. The
slanted columns then follow this standard grid
system while creating their own organization in
plan. The panels for the roof and the cow are
made from very thin plywood sheets that can
be bent or distorted slightly to follow the form of
either building.
We made specific design decisions in an effort
for a large portion of the project to be fabricated
off site, resulting in a more economical design.
This fabrication off site would also be a benefit
as access to electricty could be very limited, and
could help reduce material waste.

The Knot

Arch Design III Fall 2014
Director: Sarah Deyong
Team: Adam Wells, Stefani Johnson
The Knot is a project that focuses on the emerging artistic community on the outskirts of
downtown San Antonio Texas, while also attempting to bring together two neighborhoods with
different economical classifications that are divided by the San Antonio River. The Knot is based on
a collection of pathways, or “threads”, that sprawl across the entirety of the site. These threads all
converge at the center of the site where the circulation leads into the new museum and cafe. The
pathways are also used for spatial division, splitting up the larger portion of the site to create smaller
pockets where the community can interact on basketball courts, a baseball diamond or a pool.
Scale had a large role in the development of the path system and the building’s materiality. Looking
at the contours of topography maps and transportation networks around the site, we were interested
in representing the same kind of figural relationships in our project. The building’s mesh form can
be seen as its own network on a smaller scale. The crisscrossing lines create a web like structure
with a high level of intensity and detail. The path system can also be seen as a network of figures
interacting with the building, streets and site contours.

Reticulate

Digital Fabrication Fall 2014
Director: Gabriel Esquivel
Project Team: Adam Wells, Ricardo Gonzales, Christian Stiles, Matt West, Justin Zumel
Reticulate is a digital fabrication project
that focuses on the interaction between various
networks of lines distinguishing the surfaces of
two faceted objects. These linear networks all
have different objectives and once they are
super imposed on the object, each system
informs or is informed by a separate system.
These lines inevitably create a hierarchy
that highlights the form of the object over
everything, but still allows for the other linear
organizations to fight for the attention of the viewer.
This surface forces the viewer to acknowledge the
individual characteristics of each network while still viewing
the objects as a whole. Light and shadow also play a role, as
the light streams through the large gashes in the object
and casts shadows that begin to distort or emphasize
certain lines.

The purpose of this project was to create two buildings, one black
and one white, that begin to step away from subject-oriented
architecture and explore the ideas associated with object-oriented
design. Each object explored different paths to reach its final form.
The white object’s focus was on the analog process, examining
“index” as a vehicle for design, while the black object became the
digital actualization of the object of fashion.
The black object looks directly at the fashion of the Comme des
Garçon brand, diagramming various couture forms and adjusting their
spatial characteristics computationally. These digital diagrams resulted
in the production of the monolith, whose nature is emphasized when
compared with the sprawling white object. The building sits in the
corner of the site displaying its autonomy through indifference to
relationships and surroundings.

The white object began by analyzing the Case Study Housing Program, specifically Case House #28. Viewing the
diagram as a point of departure, the object began to take shape by using compression as an agent to disrupt symmetry
and bending individual bars. Through physical prototyping and various iterations, this new diagram began to take a
three-dimensional form. The white object became the object in the field, sprawling across the site and standing on a
slopping plinth. The active white building is a stark contrast to the passive black object, creating a distinct relationship
between the two forms and their independence from one another and the city.

Atelier House is a manufactured building, designed to meet each
individual clientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs. There are over forty variations of the design
that can be used to create a unique home for everyone. Instead of
the typical one time rigid design, the Atelier House strategy has an
emphasis on community where collections of various designs can
come together in a single housing development.
The houses are designed specifically to be manufactured off site and
then shipped and constructed. With this model, it makes it easy for
Atelje Sotamaa to alter any plan before sending it to be constructed.
The designs themselves value the privacy of each home owner while
simultaneously creating a connection to the environment and
community. A community of Atelier Houses displays nuanced
differences that make each home unique, rather than monotonous
repetition.

Top Panel

Waffle

Space Frame

Bottom Panels

Westwood House
AteljĂŠ Sotamaa
Role: Designer, scripting, drawings

The Westwood house is a renovation project located in Los Angeles,
California. The clients are asking for an addition to the existing
structure that would create a second story and a redesign of the
current plan. The new design for the renovation is centered around a
single surface landscape roof. The roof has a very simplistic outside,
while the underside of the system is composed of triangulated
stalactites that create an intricate environment which runs throughout
the entire house.
The scheme of the roof relies on a script which takes the grid layout
of a space frame and uses various lengths within a certain range to
create the triangulated hanging panels. The panels vary in scale. The
entrances of the front and back of the house more articulated while
the main rooms have larger moves. The panels are also intended to
be fabricated off site, numbered, and delivered for ease of
construction.

This project looks to take existing models and objects Atelje Sotamaa has
designed in the past and reinterpret them for a future exhibition. Initially, the
physical models of each object are 3D scanned and retopologized to create a
clean mesh. These digitized models are then patterned and textured in order to
create a series of new objects that can be 3D printed. The patterns are chosen
and applied to specifically highlight areas of curvature around each object to
emphasize movement.

Skeleton House

Summer 2015
â&#x20AC;&#x153;A House For...â&#x20AC;? OpenGap Competition Entry
Skeleton House derives its form from a series of lo fi elements.
These lo fi elements are building blocks, seen as autonomous parts
that are layered and combined in the creation of a new machine.
The design therefore places less emphasis on the whole, and
privileges the relationships between its parts. By using the building
blocks in different configurations, three distinct objects develop
independently. Binding agents are used to create a string of spatial
objects that demarcate the program of the house. The lack of a
defined enclosure around the house blurs the line between interior
and exterior. An attempt to find an edge is further disrupted due to the
change of materiality in each object.
The interior and exterior panels of the house can be seen as a case. At specific
moments, the case is removed and the wires and piping becomes exposed.
Although these elements follow the same logic of the panels, there is no longer a
defined form. An intricate 2D pattern is applied to the panels. This pattern creates a different
complexity than the layering of 3D geometry. At some moments a seamless connection of the
pattern and layering unifies the 2D and 3D elements, while at other moments the pattern dies and
the 3D elements travel autonomously. Skeleton house represents the complexity of part to part
relationships and the aesthetics of the machine.